HMRC

I am not surprised I took a short term position while waiting for my start date with another company. It transpired that the interim company had not deducted any tax. This was many years ago and when I called For clarification as I didn’t realise that this had happened I thought they were operating PAYE well they claimed to I was made to feel like a tax dodger who should have known what was happening and basically they didn’t want to know. I had no idea a company could act in this way. As I say it was a very long time ago and I probably was naive then.

I complained to my MP after an HMRC man turned up on my doorstep and I refused to speak to him because I didn’t believe he was who he claimed to be. He got very officious and said if I didn’t pay an outstanding amount, which it subsequently turned out I did not owe, I would be taken to court. He didn’t ask me to give him money but it was very unpleasant and quite scary.
After my MP took it up I received an apology and a bunch of flowers!! Anyone else ever had this? I was astonished. Tempted to throw them in the bin but didn’t.
Go for it Gillybob see if you can get some flowers. If not here’s one from me.

Reall sorry to hear of your distressing treatment gillybob,I worked for HMRC for 36 years and can honestly say that most of my colleagues and I were there to help taxpayers I got letters of thanks ,I know that the new people that were recruited were not given the same training and indeed were playing a numbers game when they had to answer a certain amount ,those that got through the largest number whether or not they took the time to provide a proper service or not ( random calls were checked) usually as time went on by inexperienced managers who were promoted incorrectly IMO.
All calls should have been recorded so I would advise you to complain and try and give the time of your call and I would advise that you will complain to your MP if this is not dealt with .

They do tend to go for the easy target. The big players in tax evasion just carry on getting away with it.

I remember getting a very difficult call from them once after I had done my tax return - I was both working for myself part time and also drawing my state pension and I had put that pension down as 12 times the monthly payment, not realising that it is paid 4 weekly, so 13 payments. She virtually accused me of trying to fiddle my tax!

Ask everyone for their surname; they won't give it to you
As public service employees, they are obliged to provide either their full name and designation within their department or the name of their direct line manager and their contact details.

Find out who this person's line manager is, ask to speak to her and don't give up until you do., and demand a recording of the conversation.
Ask for the name and address of the Head of the Department.
Put your concerns in writing immediately, noting as exactly as you can the date, time and name of the person who took your call, and the contents of the conversation, stressing how upsetting it was when it was you who had taken the initiative about repayment.
Send the letter to the HoD by registered delivery.

Keep pestering this department by phone until you get a response, and note every conversation; constant: would 'you repeat that as I am writing this down', works well.

Ask everyone for their surname; they won't give it to you, but make sure they know you are noting every detail.
Keep pestering them until you get a written response, and an apology.
Then you can start again with the issue of repayment and this time they will treat you with more respect.

I’ve already had the scream Calli . I don’t normally drink on a school night but tonight might have to be the exception .

Yes, log everything

Have a or a good scream. Or both.

I have done that Elegran you are right after a while you do forget the details.

I was on hold for almost an hour before I got through PamelaJ1 I think she was working from home as I overheard someone ask her if she wanted tea and her mobile kept ringing and pinging in the background . I could almost swear (but couldn’t prove) that she was texting as we spoke . Listening to me get upset, beg and squirm must all be part of the fun.

Thank you all for your words of support . It feels better just getting it off my chest.

I suppose you could count yourself lucky that there was someone to talk to!!!
As Elegran says make a note.As soon as you can. In a place that you can find it!

The trouble is when you are in the conversation you aren’t taking notes are you ?

Yes, it'll keep for a while, but make a note somewhere NOW of the date and time of your call and as accurate an account of what was said on both sides as you can. You think it is etched on your brain, but the details might fade before you fell braced to make the complaint. You have a good case for it, Just because her job and her wages are safe, she thinks she can bully those who have lost theirs. She is wrong.

A little power has gone to her head.

Yes, gilly.
Leave it for now; don't even waste another minute thinking about someone who isn't worth the head space.

Tomorrow is a new day and you may feel up to it then.
If not, it'll keep for a while.

You know when you think you have really had enough and can’t take much more and then there is that “straw that breaks the camels back” moment . Well that’s how I feel right now .

My heads bursting, my legs are driving me nuts and I can’t be bothered to even have a conversation with DH .

I wish I could muster up the strength to lodge a complaint against her . Maybe tomorrow .

gillybob the Civil Service has Code of Conduct and the section on Integrity advises them on how to deal with members of the public; one word included in that is 'sensitively'.
She has failed and her line manager should be made aware of that fact.

Gilly, which is why you were spoken to like you were. If you'd owed thousands they'd probably have been as nice as pie.
How dare they !!

They're not permitted to speak like that now to any customer no matter who the company or organisation is so I'd immediately put pen to cardboardpaper and write them a very stiff letter of complaint.

Yes, she needs re-training
At the very least.
If no-one does anything about her, she will just carry on

I'd like to go and stop her, the cow!

Spoke, not spike!

Yes there was a message saying that the call was being recorded but I am not sure they would use it against themselves.

They have no choice gillybob but to listen to it and use it for "training purposes"; that's precisely why it's there. You can raise this as an official complaint either with HMRC themselves or with you MP. You just need to give the time, date and, if you have it, the name of the woman you spike to. She clearly needs extra training. She's clearly quite comfortable reducing callers to tears of despair and she needs to be stopped.

Sorry, gillybob
Not bib

gillybob

I am not a member of the public I am a small business owner Calli therefore we are treat like a piece of sh*t on HMRC's shoes.

It's probably your turn to be a target, gillybib.

There was a targeted campaign against pensioners at one point a few years ago because there was a lot of publicity about it, very unpleasant and upsetting.

I know it costs to ask an accountant to help but sometimes it is worth it.
You could be entitled to money, too, but the processes are so difficult that many people give up.

It really affects you, I think, when you encounter this kind of attitude; it still takes me by surprise to realise not everyone is at least polite.
The "work coach" at the job centre made me cry (in someone's arms, if you please!!!)

Horrible people, who shouldn't be doing their jobs if they have so few customer skills.

I am not a member of the public I am a small business owner Calli therefore we are treat like a piece of sh*t on HMRC's shoes.

Exactly Paddyanne But I think Small businesses like mine are an easy target and they know they have the upper hand. I told her that if I had the (less than) £2000 in my own account I would have happily given it to her rather than be made to feel like this .

Yes there was a message saying that the call was being recorded but I am not sure they would use it against themselves .

gillybob they aren't all like that but yes, DH was speaking to one person on the phone ages ago who was so rude and officious that I had to take over the call.
She was completely wrong in what she was saying, got him worrying, said that he should have known he owed a lot of tax but, when challenged, admitted that the tax offices in different areas didn't know what each other were doing!
In fact, he owed about £25, not over £5,000 as she alleged.
It was when they were trying to squeeze money out of pensioners instead of getting the rich to pay their dues.

Yes, gillybob, the call will have been recorded and there is absolutely no need for a civil servant to behave like that towards a member of the public.


Like Scribbles, I encountered a very helpful man years ago who helped me to get a refund of tax I realised I was owed - just before the 6 year deadline (I think it's only 4 years now).